A Pennsylvania influencer known for hunting down alleged child predators has been charged after he was stabbed in the arm during a tense confrontation inside a Tim Hortons.

Nicholas Attalla, 34, who uses the name Niky Sal online, was hit with charges of criminal nuisance and endangering the welfare of a child last week, according to WGRZ News. 

Attalla poses as a minor on undercover social media accounts to lure alleged pedophiles into encounters he can capture on camera, much like Chris Hansen’s infamous NBC show To Catch a Predator.

His charges stem from a physical fight that erupted after he confronted a man allegedly trying to meet up with a minor inside an upstate New York Tim Hortons last year. 

The fight came after Attalla, posing as a 14-year-old girl, began chatting on a dating website with an unknown person who claimed to be a 16-year-old boy, according to the outlet. 

After arranging to meet at a Tim Hortons in Jamestown, Attalla crossed state lines on the afternoon of December 15, 2025, to ‘expose’ the man as a pedophile.

There, Attalla confronted two men, James Morris, 43, and Eric Spencer, 42, and accused Morris of talking to a minor. 

The Jamestown Police Department said that Attalla 'threatened Morris based solely off the phone conversation and his voice,' according to WGRZ.

A physical fight broke out between the three men, during which they allegedly crashed into a family and their one-year-old child.  

Before leaving the establishment, Morris stabbed Attalla in the arm, leaving him with a large laceration, police said in a Facebook statement. 

Attalla was taken to UPMC Chautauqua for treatment before later being transferred to a hospital in his hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania.

In a photo shared on social media, the influencer is seen lying in a hospital bed flashing his bloodied hand at the camera. One arm appears to be wrapped in a cast-like covering. 

Police said Morris was found just a short distance from the Tim Hortons and arrested without incident. 

Morris was charged with first degree assault, tampering with physical evidence and third degree criminal possession of a weapon. Following his arraignment, he was remanded to the Chautauqua County Jail. 

But a subsequent investigation by the department found that none of the men had been communicating before the fight, according to Erie News Now. 

Search warrants for the three men’s cellphones found no contact between them before the confrontation, which police said put numerous patrons in danger, including a toddler caught in the chaos. 

On September 4, following a lengthy investigation, all three men, Morris, Spencer and Attalla, were charged with second degree criminal nuisance and endangering the welfare of a child.

Morris and Spencer were arrested in January 2026, according to police, while Attalla surrendered to the Jamestown Police Department last week. 

Attalla has amassed about 47,000 followers on Facebook, describing his page as a platform ‘for educational purposes and to help spread awareness of online child predators.’

The Jamestown Police Department, led by Chief Scott D Forster, conducted the investigation. Authorities have not released further details about the upcoming court proceedings.